Community Service
2009 - 2010 Service Leadership Council
View Community Service Photos on Flickr.
"Not for self, but for service." This has been the RCDS motto for more than 130 years. Our commitment to service is more than a slogan; it is part of our mission. RCDS students are involved in a variety of service projects, both face-to-face and charitable fundraising, throughout the year.
RCDS tailors its Community Service by offering age-appropriate volunteer opportunities, coordinated across divisions by a full-time Director of Community Service. The Lower School service program teaches core values of community and citizenship. Representative projects include promoting ecological awareness, visiting nursing homes and collecting blankets, coats, and toys for various charities. In the Middle School, students participate in Community Service projects in all grades. Typical efforts include making lap blankets for wheelchair patients In partnership with the Upper School's Linus Committee, joining the Awareness Club, and participating in the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital Math-A-Thon. Both Lower and Middle School students enthusiastically participate each year in Hoops and Jump Rope for Heart. In addition, all students in Grade 8 participate in specially scheduled Service Days throughout the school year, working at a variety of nonprofits in the local area.
Upper School students enjoy ongoing and special event service opportunities both on and off campus, including local partnerships with the Spinal Cord Injury Unit of the James J. Peters V.A. Medical Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Port Chester Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre, and Port Chester Carver Center's After School Program. Most Upper School group service events are initiated by student government, clubs or individual classes. Generosity Week, held each December, features efforts by more than twenty-five student organizations, including awareness presentations, fundraisers, collections, and holiday celebrations for special needs children and homeless families. Individual referrals for off-campus individual service are available all year. Although service other than June Term is not required, Upper School students receive Founder's Awards based on documented hours and are recognized often by both governmental and private organizations.
June Term for Seniors is a graduation requirement. During their final two weeks of the school year, all Seniors participate in full-day group service projects for several organizations in Westchester, Fairfield and the Bronx. Recent projects include environmental maintenance at Read Sanctuary, painting and yard work at the Friends of Karen headquarters, repairing trails at Greenwich Audubon and Westchester County Parks, assisting at Sarah Neuman Center for Healthcare and Port Chester Nursing and Rehabilitation, and tutoring students in classrooms at several partner New York City elementary and middle schools.
In times of extraordinary need, RCDS responds accordingly. I.C.E. (In Case of Emergency), an Upper School committee raising awareness about worldwide humanitarian crises, has raised thousands of dollars through their annual student-organized talent show. The talent show contributions to USA for UNHCR support refugees in danger around the world. In recent years, the entire school community has joined together in substantial efforts to assist the Gulf Coast region after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to provide aid to tsunami survivors in Southeast Asia.
* * * * *
For further information, please call Ms. Anita Walsh, Director of Community Service, at (914) 925-4594 during the academic year. The Community Service Center is located in room 216 of the Upper School.
